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3.88 AVERAGE
3.88 AVERAGE
DNF after 3.5 hours, after chapter 13. This is boring and there's no plot.
This was such a lovely and funny read!
Julian and Seamus are both older characters (30/35) and both are romance language teachers at the same school; Julian teaches French and Seamus teaches Spanish as well as being the baseball coach.
Julian is, at the age of almost 35, still a virgin, not due to a lack of trying but rather the fact that he has certain standards he wants to meet in whomever will help him get rid of his V-card, as well as the fact that, as a fat gay man, he has been faced with so much fatphobia and fat hatred when he has tried dating. Add in that his family, while loving, is also fatphobic, and the sum is that he also has body image and self-confidence issues.
Julian has one mission: lose his V-card to his (not yet existing) boyfriend before his 35th birthday.
Seamus, his straight co-worker and friend, has a past of his own and has made mistakes that he's working really hard to rectify and correct. He's also working really hard to ensure that he does not make the same mistakes again.
When Seamus finds out about Julian's predicament, he volunteers to help his friend out. Because that's 100% what a straight friend would do for his gay friend, and not because he's actually bi-curious.
Of course, it turns out that Seamus is very bi-curious, or maybe more pan? I loved that Seamus' exploration of his own sexuality was never taken into question and was accepted as totally normal by his best friends and gay dads, Greg and Ethan.
I also loved that the sexual tension and exploration between Julian and Seamus were written with humor, seriousness, messiness, awkwardness, fun, and playfulness—all the things that sex actually is in real life.
Seeing Julian's journey to self-confidence and accepting himself fully (plus standing up to his fatphobic mom), with the help of Seamus, was a joy to read. Seamus realised that in love, no one is perfect, but we are all still deserving of love.
The supporting characters from both Julian and Seamus' circle of friends were amazing and supportive, and I want to be friends with each and every one of them.
And I want a grandmother like Julian's!
Julian and Seamus are both older characters (30/35) and both are romance language teachers at the same school; Julian teaches French and Seamus teaches Spanish as well as being the baseball coach.
Julian is, at the age of almost 35, still a virgin, not due to a lack of trying but rather the fact that he has certain standards he wants to meet in whomever will help him get rid of his V-card, as well as the fact that, as a fat gay man, he has been faced with so much fatphobia and fat hatred when he has tried dating. Add in that his family, while loving, is also fatphobic, and the sum is that he also has body image and self-confidence issues.
Julian has one mission: lose his V-card to his (not yet existing) boyfriend before his 35th birthday.
Seamus, his straight co-worker and friend, has a past of his own and has made mistakes that he's working really hard to rectify and correct. He's also working really hard to ensure that he does not make the same mistakes again.
When Seamus finds out about Julian's predicament, he volunteers to help his friend out. Because that's 100% what a straight friend would do for his gay friend, and not because he's actually bi-curious.
Of course, it turns out that Seamus is very bi-curious, or maybe more pan? I loved that Seamus' exploration of his own sexuality was never taken into question and was accepted as totally normal by his best friends and gay dads, Greg and Ethan.
I also loved that the sexual tension and exploration between Julian and Seamus were written with humor, seriousness, messiness, awkwardness, fun, and playfulness—all the things that sex actually is in real life.
Seeing Julian's journey to self-confidence and accepting himself fully (plus standing up to his fatphobic mom), with the help of Seamus, was a joy to read. Seamus realised that in love, no one is perfect, but we are all still deserving of love.
The supporting characters from both Julian and Seamus' circle of friends were amazing and supportive, and I want to be friends with each and every one of them.
And I want a grandmother like Julian's!
Just like the other books in this series, this one was funny and sweet while still diving into some serious topics.
As always, the banter with the friend group is terrific:
As always, the banter with the friend group is terrific:
Amos: How are you doing?
Julian: Hanging in there.
Amos: *Sends all the hugs*
Everett: *Sends all the martinis*
I’m really looking forward to book 4!
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Hands down best book of the series so far.
J and Seamus were the absolute best couple i’ve read so far. They had wonderful chemistry and communication along with a powerful willingness to try new things despite how much nerves you have about the situation.
The way their relationship progressed was so natural and you could really see how much care the author put jnto forming these characters and how much grace he put into the problem Seamus was dealing with in the background.
I really loved reading this and absolutely couldn’t put it down. I am so excited to read Chases story.
I received an arc from gay romance review in exchange for an honest opinion.
J and Seamus were the absolute best couple i’ve read so far. They had wonderful chemistry and communication along with a powerful willingness to try new things despite how much nerves you have about the situation.
The way their relationship progressed was so natural and you could really see how much care the author put jnto forming these characters and how much grace he put into the problem Seamus was dealing with in the background.
I really loved reading this and absolutely couldn’t put it down. I am so excited to read Chases story.
I received an arc from gay romance review in exchange for an honest opinion.
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
what I liked
- plus-size representation
- the portrayal of someone with a former gambling addiction
- Greg and Ethan were funny
- the way Seamus was always boosting Julian’s confidence and how he stood up to Julian’s mom
- when Julian finally put his mother in place. God, this woman was an asshole.
what I didn’t like
- how does an adult (that has a certificate to teach health in school) not know how to put a condom on correctly? Even if he‘s a virgin. That whole scene made me cringe so hard
- as a fat person myself, the fatphobia (internalized & from others) was very hard to read at times
- how Seamus offered to sleep with Julian was kind of meh (why not be open about being bicurious?)
- the way being a virgin was portrayed as something bad and shameful. Who cares if you‘re a virgin? Definitely not your friends, or they shouldn’t be your friends in the first place. Really didn’t like that Julian felt the need to lie about this (though I'm on the ace spectrum so I may be a little too sensitive about this topic)
- found the MCs hard to like at times
- the no kissing rule felt very childish and cliché idk
- if you have to drink that much alcohol to go through with something maybe you shouldn’t do it in the first place?
- the vomit talk immediately followed by a handjob nope 😭
- didn’t like the dirty-talk
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
While I overall enjoyed this book, it didn't have quite the same uncomplicated playfulness of the first two in the series.
There is a good reason for that, we have an MC with some serious body image issues, which can be tough to read about. I think they were handled sensitively, but it was harder to balance against the humor the series hangs it hat upon. I still loved the group texts between the guys and their banter, but it is intercut with some tougher internal talk from Julian. Brendan is also in a spiral of self-recrimination for his gambling addiction.
I think the book suffers somewhat from being a little more serious than its predecessors, so expectations were set a little differently. But there was still a lot to like, and this is one series where I don't mind seeing the other couples and how they're doing now (sometimes the cameos take over, but here they seem more natural.)
There is a good reason for that, we have an MC with some serious body image issues, which can be tough to read about. I think they were handled sensitively, but it was harder to balance against the humor the series hangs it hat upon. I still loved the group texts between the guys and their banter, but it is intercut with some tougher internal talk from Julian. Brendan is also in a spiral of self-recrimination for his gambling addiction.
I think the book suffers somewhat from being a little more serious than its predecessors, so expectations were set a little differently. But there was still a lot to like, and this is one series where I don't mind seeing the other couples and how they're doing now (sometimes the cameos take over, but here they seem more natural.)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A